December 7, 2011, marks the 70th anniversary of the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, an unprecedented event that drew the United States into World War II. There are less than 1,400 veterans of that battle still living. Most are more than 90 years old.
This is Us spoke to a dozen local Pearl Harbor Survivors, who recounted how their lives were changed forever on the morning of December 7, 1941 when the sea turned to flame, ships were sunk and friends were lost. Old men who were once young warriors recall “a date which will live in infamy” in this clip from our Pearl Harbor Special. You can see the whole program on KQED Plus (Comcast 10) December 7 at 7pm.
2 thoughts on “Pearl Harbor Remembrance Special”
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Just coincidence, I was meet with my father’s schooldays friend from Arkansas tonight. He had been based in Honolulu in December 1941, and that morning on the U.S.S. Indianapolis which was barely out of the channel from Pearl Harbor. He was a “striker” (apprentice) for “radio man” on his ship, and early on the morning of December 7, he picked up the message “This is not a drill, Pearl Harbor is being attacked”. He quickly related the message to his supervisor, who scoffed “you’re not a radioman, what do you know?”. The striker radio man insisted it was a real message, and his superior made some remark about him being from Arkansas, so he handed the phones to the officer so he could hear the truth of the message for himself. And he was instantly shocked at the news. The ship made a run away from Pearl Harbor, and ended up having to refuel at sea (through a 6″ fuel line) from a tanker. This young radio man ended up having his picture in the local paper in Warren, Arkansas for his being a part of the historical day. Spending time with him tonight, I missed most of the 2nd showing of the KQED production about Pearl Harbor survivors. I hope it will either be repeated or sold, as I’d like to give this veteran a copy of it.
Linda,
Thanks for writing us with your remarkable story. Thanks, too, for your interest in our program. The show will be repeated but not for awhile. In the meantime, you can watch the whole episode, right here, on our blog:
http://blogs.kqed.org/thisisus/2011/12/08/bay-area-veterans-remember-pearl-harbor/
Best,
Becca